Dear Reader,
As I'm writing to you, there are multiple protests occurring all over the US in the wake of George Floyd's death. Times like this make me really sit in the present and think about where we are. As an entire species. In a broader sense, is this going to be our great filter?
Think of the movie Watchmen (2009). It seems as if to really progress as a collective we're going to need some sort of unifying enemy/target/goal for us to all stop and realise, hey, it's probably more important that we unite and try and attack/defeat/solve this.. thing, right? A super sophisticated species looking from above may consider that to be climate change, or giving each and every human the right to clean sanitation and drinking water. But at this point in time, it could not be further from the truth. According to the WHO, roughly 1 in 3 do not have access to safe drinking water, and an estimated 2.5 billion lack access to improved sanitation.
It just seems as if currently, we cannot get over our differences and will never evolve or move forwards because of our own egos and sense of entitlement. And I fall victim to this myself, I'm not perfect, and neither are you. I'm sure you've heard this before, but I'm going to quote it again.
“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”I interpret this in that each and everyone of us is special. And they may be special to you for different reasons. But at the end of the day, we are all uniquely beautiful. And this stage we're in, I optimistically think will pass, as we begin to accept and acknowledge our past, and focus on our future.
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
As I'm writing this I also have three assignments due in less than 12 days worth approximately 35% each. But there are more important things going on here, namely the fact I have not showered consistently for weeks, but also the fact that pineapple deserves to exist and be eaten on pizza, and anyone who thinks otherwise deserves to get left behind in humans evolutionary dust, you fossil.
Anyways, get and more importantly, keep in touch with those who you hold close to your heart. In this severely digitized age, it can be easy to feel lost. Just the other day I received a text from a friend of mine asking how I was doing, and since I have sparse social media nowadays, namely just Snapchat for the purposes of getting vital dog updates from my sister back home, it was quite the surprise. It just doesn't have the same weight to it a damn 'tag' has, or a like. I truly believe social media overuse is a massive problem we have not even begun to see the effects of yet. Also, I do apologies to my friends for being an absolute pain in the ass to invite and coordinate with, but I could not go back to how I was living before. The way it changed I looked at things. I fear we are not ready for this level of ~connection~ disconnection.
I can't end on a note like that, so instead I'm going to tell you a random fact about water bears. For those of you who do not know, water bears, aka moss piglets or more scientifically.. tardigrades, are a water-dwelling microscopic micro-animal. It turns out we've left some on the moon.
Until next time, Oskar